Fawad Chaudhry says govt to file reference in SC for interpretation of Article 63 (A)

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said on Friday that the government would file a reference in the Supreme Court, asking it to interpret Article 63 (A) of the Constitution.

The minister took to Twitter and in a series of tweets said, “The Supreme Court will be asked about the legal status of the vote of party members when they are clearly involved in horse-trading and changed their loyalties in exchange for money.”

حکومت نے فیصلہ کیا ہے کہ آرٹیکل 63-A کی تشریح کیلئے سپریم کورٹ میں آرٹیکل 186 کے تحت ریفرینس فائل کیا جائیگا، سپریم کورٹ سے رائے مانگی جائیگی کہ جب ایک پارٹی کے ممبران واضع طور پر ہارس ٹریڈنگ میں ملوث ہوں اور پیسوں کے بدلے وفاداریاں تبدیل کریں تو ان کے ووٹ کی قانونی حیئثت کیا ہے

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) March 18, 2022

Fawad said that the government would seek the apex court’s guidance on whether a person, who shifts loyalty for monetary benefit, should be ineligible for lifetime to become a lawmaker or whether they could contest polls again and be elected to parliament.

“The Supreme Court will be requested to hear the case on a daily basis,” he said.

Fawad’s words come a day after several Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers, who were staying at the Sindh House in Islamabad, revealed that they were in the Opposition camp now.

Article 65-A

According to Article 63 (A) of the Constitution, a parliamentarian can be disqualified on grounds of defection if he “votes or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the parliamentary party to which he belongs, in relation to election of the prime minister or chief minister; or a vote of confidence or a vote of no-confidence; or a money bill or a Constitution (amendment) bill”.

The article says that the party head has to declare in writing that the MNA concerned has defected but before making the declaration, the party head will “provide such member with an opportunity to show cause as to why such declaration may not be made against him”.

After giving the member a chance to explain their reasons, the party head will forward the declaration to the speaker, who will forward it to the chief election commissioner (CEC). The CEC will then have 30 days to confirm the declaration. If confirmed by the CEC, the member “shall cease to be a member of the House and his seat shall become vacant”.

The government has already indicated that it will use Article 63 (A) to “crush” the no-confidence motion against PM Imran.